So when I first played this game, I used the keyboard, naturally. For one thing, getting mouse drviers to work in DOS was pretty touchy (I also used to cheat because I was just a little kid without enough skill to beat the game properly. I was just getting into computers at that stage).

But anyway, I recently got it on GOG to relive the glory, but found that even though the movement was the same as I remember, I had a lot of frustration turning. Either I did it in walk mode, when it was too slow to shoot people behind me before they shot me, or it was fine in run mode, but then movement was difficult because it takes time to get up to speed and you can forget about walking forward a few paces then stopping beofre you lose your shins to a coffee table. Lets not get started on fatal falls.

Anyway, the disconnect between fine movement controls and responsive aiming led me to use the mouse and keyboard. It probably helps that I have a G13 gamepad and have been able to remap all the movement keys to my left hand, but it surprises me to see so many people say the mouse controls are terrible. I'm finding them pretty easy to use to be honest. My aiming is so much faster that people spawning behind me are little to no threat, and even sidestepping or rolling is easier because I don't have to spend a lot of time setting up my direction.

Anyway, I'm very happy with how I'm finding things, but I was just wondering how other people dealt with the aiming? Do you just try to plan ahead so you're facing the right way when an enemy appears, or do you run around at full speed everywhere? Or do you toggle between the run/walk modes with the reaction time of a pro? Finally, are there many other people out there like me, who prefer the mouse, or am I just a freak of nature?

I never played with the mouse, keyboard only. I used side-stepping and rolling to the utmost advantage, but agree with you that the touchy movement is frustrating at times.

I mouse it, and roll a whole lot. Almost never use run.

I mainly use keyboard, just can't get the feel for the mouse in this one.

You can turn faster to fire while in walk mode by pushing down the shift key.

I didn't play them when they came out, so I'm playing them for the first time now. It may be different for someone today playing for the first time, then those that played it when they came out.

I saw a lot of comments about how hard the controls are, but I am finding them pretty simple to get the hang of. I use the mouse to turn/roll/aim/shoot/move because it's so much quicker to dodge and shoot and play. I do walk very slowly from area to area though, being my first time playing through.

I will get better the more I play, but just starting out, the mouse is better to use for me.

I am playing the game for the first time and can't for the life of me make heads or tails of the controls.

Use the keyboard. Best way to play.

RTFM . . . the manual is your friend. The thing about Crusader is that even though it's 3rd person, you have to move like you're in first person (turning right spins clockwise, left is counter). So it's not so much about the controls, but the mindset you have to have while playing.

I'm finding it easiest to have one hand on the arrow keys and another on the numpad. The numpad gives you quick control over what dirrection you go and is independant of which way the Siliencer is facing. 8 is always up, 1 is always diagonal down, etc. Sometimes though an enemy will be inbetween two numbers, say inbetween 9 and 6. Thats when the hand on the arrow keys takes over to fine tune the turn. This also makes rolling much easier because I can hold control and hit a direction and now it'll roll that way, no matter how the Silincer was facing. He might not be facing the right direction when he ends the roll, but he'll roll that way none the less.

The numpad solves the problem of having to slowly turn to shoot two directions. Just walk out, press 6 to shoot right, 4 to shoot left.

The downside is you can't run at all. If you hold shift and hit 9 the Silincer will run diagonal right. However if you try to change dirrection he'll completely stop, turn that way, do the little speed-build up animation, and then go. Instead to run you have to switch to the arrowkeys, just hold forward while holding shift and use a second hand to hit left and right.


It took a bit to get the hang of, but I'm on level 2 now and I'm rolling around shotguning guys left and right, throwing down spider mines(* and - change weapons/items, numpad del uses them) and feeling awesome. I also find picking things up easier with the numpad as you just hit numpad+ to find them, numpad enter to grab them. The buttons are right on of eachother for a quick 1-2 loot.

So hang in there, you'll be able to figure it out after a bit. I found it the same with Gothic 1 when I played it. Weird to get used to, but it started to grow on me toward the end. I wouldn't say it's better than modern controls, but still useable.

I am thinking about getting this game, but as I read information about it, one thought keeps overwhelming me:

"How the hell did they manage to fuck up mouse aiming?!"